From this weekend, the adoption of RFID tags in the retailing industry has become a matter of time. At a recent conference, organised by the RFID non profit standards organisation, EPCglobal, both Walmart and Tesco warned their suppliers that they expected takeup of this technology. By forcing the adoption of RFID technology through their purchasing power, RFID will soon become ubiquitous in retail, over the next two years.

Colin Cobain, UK IT director for Tesco, advised suppliers to get involved and take a considered view of the new technology. "Some manufacturers are going down the route of slap-and-ship - I urge you not to do that... If you start of slapping-and-shipping, you'll get a bad name in your organisation." He added that the question about RFID was not "whether or not it will make a huge difference in the world: the question is, will you be ready?"

Simon Langford, manager of RFID strategy for Wal-Mart and Asda, said "start engaging in RFID today... don't sit back and wait for it to happen." Wal-Mart, remember, were so enthusiastic about the technology that they issued a mandate telling their top suppliers to get the tags in their supply chain by 1 January, 2005, or else.

WalMart began their testing of RFID tags in the supply chain on Friday in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Their links with EPCglobal are also clear:

EPCglobal is a joint venture of EAN International and the Uniform Code Council. It is the organisation chosen by industry to develop standards for RFID technology in the global supply chain based on user needs and business requirements.

As a charter member of EPCglobal, Wal-Mart fully adheres to its core principles related to privacy issues, including consumer notice, consumer education and consumer choice. Wal-Mart's Linda Dillman and HP's Dick Lampman serve on the board of directors of EPCglobal.

To follow the work of EPCglobal, the website setting standards for electronic product codes can be found here, including details of their membership and policies.